Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. The philanthropic arm of
Speaker 1: the Ford Motor Company is the first to have donated
Speaker 1: more than one hundred million dollars in partnership with Global Giving.
Speaker 1: Here to discuss that milestone and the role of large
Speaker 1: companies in charity is Mary Culler. She is the president
Speaker 1: of Ford Philanthropy and it's great to have you, marry on.
Speaker 1: I guess Giving Tuesday was yesterday, but we should always
Speaker 1: be thinking about what we can do to help out
Speaker 1: in global crises. Tell us first of all about Global Giving.
Speaker 1: You've been in partnership with them for many years and
Speaker 1: how you work together.
Speaker 2: Well, good morning and nice to see you, Matt and Danny.
Speaker 2: This is a historic milestone and what's really exciting is
Speaker 2: Global Giving has been a partner of ours for years.
Speaker 2: They really serve as the bridge for connecting with nonprofits
Speaker 2: all across the world. And so when we think about
Speaker 2: this milestone, it's not only about the money, but it's
Speaker 2: the multiplier effect that a company liked Motor Company can
Speaker 2: bring with our employees with the expertise we bring with
Speaker 2: our vehicles, and of course we have this incredible dealer
Speaker 2: network all across the globe that all get involved in
Speaker 2: support of these nonprofits.
Speaker 3: Mary, the good news is the contributions you're making to societies.
Speaker 3: The bad news is how many different things it feels
Speaker 3: like they're out there that need this kind of funding,
Speaker 3: be it rising inequality, be it issues of climate change,
Speaker 3: and by the way, all those things happening in very
Speaker 3: many different places in the world. It can be enough
Speaker 3: to kind of feel paralyzing. So how do you afford
Speaker 3: filmthrop at Ford decide exactly where that money goes and
Speaker 3: what projects to take on.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that's a great question because there is
Speaker 2: so much need and so what we try to do
Speaker 2: at Ford Philanthropy is really bring our superpower to the table,
Speaker 2: and so we have really focused on things like disaster relief,
Speaker 2: community building because what we've learned is in partnerships with nonprofits,
Speaker 2: we not only bring the philanthropic dollars, but we can
Speaker 2: bring things like our vehicles. So imagine during a hurricane
Speaker 2: or during some kind of disaster, there is a need
Speaker 2: for nonprofits to have sort of an increase of vehicles
Speaker 2: to get out and do the work they do. So
Speaker 2: we have a loaner program through our dealers for that.
Speaker 2: We have our people. We've extended our volunteer policy so
Speaker 2: that people can deploy when there's a disaster and go
Speaker 2: and actually you know, get in there and help. And
Speaker 2: then the dealer network, As I said, what I've been
Speaker 2: incredibly impressed by is that because we are more focused
Speaker 2: in these areas together as a company, we've been able
Speaker 2: to network together incredible impacts. So for example, you know,
Speaker 2: we have dealers who are doing blood drives, we have
Speaker 2: dealers who are doing food drives, all in sort of
Speaker 2: support of this combined effort. And just recently, dealers across
Speaker 2: the world actually did a food drive and there was
Speaker 2: a donation of two million pounds of food. We've done
Speaker 2: blood drives where the American Red Cross has said this
Speaker 2: is so incredible because you're getting new blood donors. So
Speaker 2: I think a company, if we can find our sweet
Speaker 2: spot like we have in these areas, can bring the
Speaker 2: full power of what you know, we can do to help.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I mean Ford has like something like one
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy thousand employees, right, but if you include
Speaker 1: the massive dealership network and the supplier network, it's going
Speaker 1: to I imagine grow to millions. You're also very global right.
Speaker 1: I know that you have production facilities for example, for
Speaker 1: example in Valencia where you've been able to help out
Speaker 1: with the horrible flooding that they had. You've been able
Speaker 1: to help out in Turkey where they had awful earthquakes.
Speaker 1: These global crises, do you feel a responsibility to respond
Speaker 1: not just to what's going on in the US but
Speaker 1: around the world.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. And I think what's really great is because we
Speaker 2: have this focused effort around is US relief. We have
Speaker 2: a turnkey, you know kind of moment where we already
Speaker 2: have our nonprofits established. You know, we have the dealers
Speaker 2: sort of ready to go, we have ourmployees ready to volunteer.
Speaker 2: And so recently, for example, during the Texas flooding, within
Speaker 2: twenty four hours, the dealers were already activated, we had
Speaker 2: vehicles on the ground helping our nonprofits, we had our
Speaker 2: volunteers deployed, and we were doing everything we could to
Speaker 2: help in that situation. And I think that's the power
Speaker 2: of a company like Ford. You know, when our backs
Speaker 2: against the wall, there's no better company to kind of
Speaker 2: rise to the occasion. We've seen that throughout history, and
Speaker 2: our commitment community is so great that if we can
Speaker 2: find that sort of sweet spot where we can bring
Speaker 2: the entire power of our company to bear. I think
Speaker 2: we just have a much better opportunity to make a difference.
Speaker 1: You know, the aim of the more libertarian administrations in
Speaker 1: this country is to pull back on what the government
Speaker 1: pays for because then the private charity will step in.
Speaker 1: And I wonder if you feel more pressure on that
Speaker 1: front lately as you cross this milestone.
Speaker 2: Well, we've certainly gotten a lot more. And you know,
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, there's not enough money
Speaker 2: to sustain all the need, you know, as Danny said,
Speaker 2: And so what we really try to do at Ford
Speaker 2: Philanthropy is not only to bring whatever monetary resources we
Speaker 2: can bring, but I think we have these incredible employees,
Speaker 2: these incredible volunteers, and they bring their expertise. I mean,
Speaker 2: for example, recently, food has been a real issue and
Speaker 2: one of our employees was actually volunteering at a food
Speaker 2: bank and she was with our supply chain group, and
Speaker 2: she got there and she realized that the way they
Speaker 2: had set up the entire supply chain for that food
Speaker 2: distribution was not as efficient as it needed to be,
Speaker 2: and so she kind of took it on as her
Speaker 2: own personal project to help them and so they're much
Speaker 2: more efficient, they're getting much more food out every day,
Speaker 2: and so I think that's really the exciting thing is that,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm proud of our employees who always look
Speaker 2: for opportunities to give back and I think in a
Speaker 2: really meaningful way.
Speaker 1: Can I just quickly ask also how closely you work
Speaker 1: with Bill Ford and the Ford family, because I know
Speaker 1: he has been a proponent of the environment for many,
Speaker 1: many decades now and has tried to do what he
Speaker 1: can through obviously the Ford Motor Company assets that he owns.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, there's no bigger champion than Bill Ford
Speaker 2: on the community front. You know, he really is our
Speaker 2: north star. You know, he established our volunteer program twenty
Speaker 2: years ago. He's always looking around corners, he's always thinking ahead,
Speaker 2: he's always looking for innovation. So he always challenges me
Speaker 2: personally to look for innovation and philanthropy. And so I
Speaker 2: couldn't be more proud to be a part of a
Speaker 2: company that has a family like the Fords behind it.
Speaker 3: Hey, Mary, so great to hear about the wonderful work
Speaker 3: you're doing at Ford Philanthropy. That's Mary Kohler for philanthropy,